Cushioned boot-heel.



A. DEMOREY & B. TOURNIER. CUSHIONED BOOT HEEL. A'PPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 17, 1912.

1,068,575., Patented July 29, 1913.

2 SHEBTSSHEBT l.

FIG FIQQ A. DEMOREY & B. TOURNIER. OUSHIONED BOOT HEEL. APPLIOAlTION FILED SEPT. 17, 1912.

1,0 3,575, v Patented July 29,1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FIGJO w/T/vrssEs /NVE I Mia wi y ANDRE DEMOBI1Y .AN,D BAPH'ISTE TOUBNIER, LYON, FRANCE.

' =C'U'SHIONED BOOT-HEEL.

Speciflcatlon of Letters Patent.

Patented July 29, 1913.

Application-filed September 17,1912. Serial Bo..:'i' 20,799.

T 0 till whom/it may concern -Be it known-that' we, Annnr'; 'DnMoRnY and BAPTISTE TOURNIER, citizens of the French Republic, both residing at Lyon,'in France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cushioned Boot Heels, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has for its object a boot heel provided with a number of more or less elastic rollers,-each partly housed in one of a seriesof recesses formed on the.

lower side of the heel, said rollers being-rotatably mounted on spindles or trunnions arranged transversely to the heel and held in place by a suitable plate. The rollers pro ject fromthe bottom ofthe heel and make contact with-the ground. When saidrollers become worn they can-be rotated by hand in said recesses; orthey canzbe'easily taken out and replaced as desired for example by more elastic or less elastic rollers. changeable rollers can be made of rubber or other elastic composition and contain a core of lead orother material for the-purpose of giving them various degrees of elast city.

The annexed drawing illustrates the invention.

Figures 1 and 2 areplan views ofthe under s1de of a boot heel provided with the in-' vention. Fi 3 to 8 illustrate various .forms v of the resihent members and methods of mounting same. Fig. 9 is a lan view-of a modified construction and Fig. 10 is a section on line A-A of Fig. 9.

Figs. 1 and 2 show a heel made of rubber, leather or other suitable material provided with recesses as 3, in which rubber rollers 4 provided with trunnions 5 in a single piece are housed. A suitably shaped apertured metal plate 6 is fixed on the heel 1 by screws 7 and engages. the trunnions of the rollers and prevents them from escaping. In Fig. 1 the plate 6 and screws 7 are supposed to be removed as well as two of the rollers. Fig. 2 shows the heel ready for use. Each roller may be provided with a core such as 8 shown in Fig. 3, the core being1 formed by a ball of lead or other materia or by any other shaped body, if it is desired to modify the effects produced by the core which affects the degree of elasticity of the rollers. It is suflicient for this to employ cores of a relatively large or. relatively small diameter according to the efiect to' be obtained.

Fig. 4 is a side view of a roller housedin the heel 1 shown in se twn.

These inter- Fig. 5 shows a roller-mounted on a small metal spindle 9.

Figs. 6 to 8. illustrate various shapes of the rollers which can vary as required.

lt is evident that the heel may be provided with a greater or less number of similar .elastic rollers which may be all of the same dimensions or of different dimensions, and arranged in any suitablemanner. The degrees of elasticity of the respective rollers on =-the same heel maybe alike or may differ. Also a group of two rollers, the axles of which are on the same axis as shown in Fig. ;2, could be replaced by a single elongated roller housed in a correspondingly shaped =recess. 'The shape ofthe late 6 would in this case be simplified, an would comprise .only the two lateral parts fitting along the :edge of the heel and the cross piece which .connects them.

The plate 6. is fixed in such .a way that without risk of accidental detachment it can be easily and rapidly detached as desired by ;the simple unscrewing of the screws illustrated which can screw into female screws :fixed in the heel 1. y other suitable means of fixirig'could be used.

In the mod cation shown in Figs. 9and 10 which has the advantage of simplicity of construction and low cost of production, the

rollers '11, 12 are mounted on the same axle 13 and=the rollers 14, 15 are mounted on the axle 16. Each of these axles 13 and 16 is formed by a metal rod of which the central part is housed in a recess 22 formed on the lower face of the heel 17, as clearly shown in Fig. 10. To maintainthe rollers in position a simple narrow plate 18 fixed to'jthe heel 17 between the rollers is sufiicient. The manufacture of the late 18 requires but little metal and it e ectively prevents thespindles of the rollers coming out of their housin tion. or fixin 'the plate 18 it is best to form a shallow ousing .in the heel of similar shape to the plate and to sink the plate therein as shown on the drawing. The plate is fixed by screws 19 screwing into nuts 20 embedded in the heel 17 each nut being terbe understood that the mounting and um mounting of the rollers can be easllyefiected. These rollers can be turned on the axles which carry them so that the point of contact of any one 9t 5W1 rollers wlththe and so retains the rollers in posiminated at its upper part bya rectangular head 21 preventing it from turmng. It can' ground can be changed side than the other without touching the others. Also if some of the rollers wear more rapidly than others, those worn can be replaced without interfering with the others.

The improved heel is comfortable to wear and reduces fatigue and is durable and economical. The body of the heel is not worn and when wear commences to appear on the rollers or projections, it is suficient to turn them through a certain angle to bring forward a new surface. The rollers can be interchanged if they are worn more on one 7 or can be entirely renewed by replacing them with others of the same model. The heel provided with its rollers or projections only bears on the ground by some points which completely prevents slipping. The elasticity of the heel can be varied according to requirements, for example according to the weight of the person who wears the boot owin to the fact that the rollers can have di 'erent sized cores varying their degree of elasticity.

It is understood that the details of construction can be modified.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A heel having recesses at the bottom thereof, said recesses being provided with shallow extensions, resilient rollers par-- tially housed in said recesses ho as to project from the bottom of said heel, trunnions on said rollers adapted to engage inv said shallow extensions of said recesses and means adapted to retain said trunnions in their recesses.

oeaeva 2. A heel having recesses at the bottom thereof, said recesses being provided with shallow extensions, resilient rollers partially housed insaid recesses so as to project from the bottom of said heel, trunnions on said rollers adapted to engage in said lateral shallow extensions of said recesses, a plate on said heel havingopenings for the projection of the rollers and adapted to retain said trunnions in their recesses and so as to allow said rollers to he turned by hand and means for removably securing said plate on said heel. I

3. A heel having recesses at the bottom thereof, resilient rollers partially housed in said recesses so as to project from the bottom of said heel, axles upon which said rollers can be turned by hand, said axles being housed in recesses in said heel and a plate on said heel adapted to retain said axles in their recesses and so as to allow said rollers to be turned by hand, and means Iflotgl removably securingsaid plate on said l. A heel having recesses at the bottom thereof, resilient rollers partially housed in said" recesses so as to project from the bottom of said heel, cores in said rollers, and

recesses.

In witness whereof we have signed this specification in the presence of two witnesses. a

ANDRE DEMOREY. BAPTISTE [TOURNIER Witnesses:

O. CARRIGAN,

MARIUS HERMAZ.

means for retaining said rollers in said 

